SONNY UPTON: “I’VE GOT TOO MUCH FOR MCCARTHY”

SONNY UPTON will face Essex’s Matt McCarthy in a final eliminator for the English super-welterweight title on March 5.

After putting on a masterclass in his ten round victory over Ryan Toms in November, Upton returns to the historic York Hall, Bethnal Green against an opponent who has lost just once in 15 professional outings.

Both men will be in familiar surroundings at ‘the Home of Boxing’, but Upton insists it will be his fans that leave applauding a sublime performance.

“The Upton Clan always come out in force to cheer me on to victory at York Hall and I believe they will do again,” Sonny said.

“I think it’ll be a packed house and a lively atmosphere. McCarthy is from down the road in Tilbury so he’ll have a lot of fans as well, but my supporters are the best in the world and they’ll get behind me, make more noise than McCarthy’s, and spur me onto another win.

“McCarthy’s a good boxer and I’m sure he’ll be giving his all. I just know I’ll have too much for him.”

Upton didn’t let his confidence slip when he suffered a couple of unexpected and controversial setbacks earlier in his career and he now feels it the time is right to make the boxing fraternity sit up and take notice.

He said: “There were probably people who wrote me off early on, but I’m slowly proving them wrong and this fight is just another step towards where I want to get to.

“In some ways I’m glad I haven’t had things all my own way because it’s kept my feet on the ground and made me more determined to work hard in the gym.

“A lot of kids get put under pressure when they first turn over, but I’ve had time to develop and people are starting to see what I’m capable of now.

“I think beating McCarthy will turn a few heads and if I go onto win the English title, those people who doubted me will realise they made a mistake.”

In an action fight against his fiercest pro opponent yet, Jose Ramirez rose to the occasion and claimed a vacant junior welterweight belt Saturday night, outpointing Amir Imam by unanimous decision in the Top Rank ESPN main event.

Oleksandr "The Nail" Gvozdyk spent most of the fight with Mehdi Amar nailing him with an assortment of combinations to claim a vacant interim light heavyweight world title, and Michael Conlan scored an impressive KO victory to stay unbeaten.

Bob Arum and Don King, the most prominent promoters in boxing history, have butted heads for decades. But they are friendly rivals these days and enjoy talking over old times and telling their war stories.

Floyd Mayweather says he will begin training "soon" for a transition into mixed martial arts and that he already has been in contact with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley about working together in the near future.

Isaac Dogboe's father, Paul, apologized for his remarks aimed at his son's opponent, Jessie Magdaleno, in which he said his son would throw the Mexican descendant "over the wall of Mexico and present the title to Donald Trump."

Gennady Golovkin was in disbelief when Canelo Alvarez tested positive for a banned substance. Along with Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, they used the word "disappointment," not about Alvarez, but his team.

Golden Boy and Top Rank have signed a deal for Jorge Linares to defend his 135-pound crown against Vasyl Lomachenko, who will move up from 130 pounds, on May 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York, sources said.

Oscar Valdez kept his belt against Scott Quigg but paid a high price for it as the Mexican featherweight champion had to have his jaw wire shut days after Saturday's bloody fight. Valdez's manager said it was unclear as to when he'd be back in the ring.

Mikey Garcia won a world title in his fourth weight class with his victory over Sergey Lipinets and must now decide which direction he wants to go with a number of potential opponents at different weight classes on his radar.